Corn-planter.



No.' 779,552. y I'JATENTED JAN. 1o, 1905.

E. E. LBVIG.

CORN PLANTERV.

APPLICATION FILD AUG. 8. 1904.

3 SHEETS-SHEET l.

PATENTED JAN. 10, 1905.

E. E. LBVIG.

CORN PLANTEB..

APPLIGATION FILED AUG. a. 1904.

QZ/75.5%; y@

No. 779,552. PATENTED JAN. l0, 1905. E. E. LEVIG.

CORN PLANTBR.

APPLICATION FILED AUG. 8. 1904.

SSHBETS-SHEET 3.

UNITED STATES Patented January 10, 1905.

PATENT OEEICE.

G'oRN-PLANTER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 779,552, dated January 10, 1905.

Application filed August 8, 1904. Serial No. 219,856.

T a/ZZ whom, it may concern:

Be it known that I, EPHRAIM E. LEvIe,a citizen of the United States, residing at Granite Falls, in the county of Yellow Medicine and State of Minnesota, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Corn-Planters; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of theinvention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

My invention relates to check-row cornplanters, and has for its object to improve the same in the several particulars hereinafter mentioned.

The invention consists of the novel devices and combinations of devices hereinafter described, and defined in the claims.

The invention is illustrated in the accompanying' drawings, wherein like characters indicate like parts throughout the several views.

Figure 1 is a plan view with some parts broken away, showing the improved machine. Fig. 2 is a transverse vertical section on the line x2 c2 of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a left-side elevation of the machine. Y Fig. 4 is a detail view, in front elevation, showing that portion of the machine which is broken away or removed from Fig. 2. Fig. 5is adetail in verticalsection on the line fc5 m5 of Fig. 2. Fig. 6 is a detail in vertical section on the line fr fr of Fig. 1. Fig. 7 is a detail in section on the line @7x7 of Fig. 1, and Fig. 8 is a vertical section on the line w8 ws of Fig. 1.

rlhe numeral 1 indicates the bearing-wheels, and the numeral 2 any axle upon which, as shown, the left-hand wheel is loosely mounted and to which the right-hand wheel is rigidly secured.

The numeral 3 indicates the skeleton yokelike frame,having bearings 4,in which the axle 2 is loosely journaled.

The numeral 5 indicates the pole, which is rigidly secured both to the forward and rear portions of the frame 3 and, as shown, is provided with a bearing in which the axle 2 is also journaled. The supporting-bar 7 of a drivers seat 8 is rigidly secured to the rear portion of ythe pole 5.

The axle 2 inward of the right-hand Wheel 1 carries a spring-pressed sliding half-clutch 9, which coperates with a half-clutch 10, formed on the hub of a sprocketwheel 11, loosely mounted on said axle. The sliding half-clutch 1() is subject to a shipper-lever 12, pivoted to a bracket l3,rigid on one side of the frame 3.

The shipperlever 12 is adapted to be held in either of two positions b v a latch-equipped hand-lever 14, pivoted to a bracket on the frame 3 and coperating with a latch-segment 16, rigidly secured to said bracket. A link 17 connects the lower end of the lever 14 to the inner arm of the shipper-lever l2. The upper end of said lever 14 stands in position to be readily engaged by the driver seated on the seat 8.

Extending transversely of the machine, in front of the wheels l, is a vertically-adjustable supplemental frame 18, which is provided with laterally-spaced guide-plates 19, that embrace the side bars of the primary or mainframe 3. At its intermediate portion this supplemental frame 18 is provided with a metallic tie-bar 19, to which is swiveled the lower end of a screw-rod 20, which screw -rod works with threaded engagement through a nut 21, rigidly secured to the pole 5. as best shown in Fig. 7. At its upper end said screw-rod is provided with a hand-wheel 22, by means of which it may be turned to raise and lower the supplemental frame with respect to the main frame.

Each end of the supplemental frame 18 supports a seed-hopper 23, shown as provided with a detachable cover 24. The sced-hoppers and seed-feeding devices and furrow-opening devices are arranged in duplicate, and hence a description of one thereof will answer for both.

Mounted to rotate on the bottom of the hopper 23 is a feed-disk 25, having a plurality of circumferentially-disposed perforations 26,affording pockets, preferably of such size that they will receive but one kernel of corn each. Just above the feed-disk 25 is a false bottom 27, which is cut away at 28, so as to expose several of the perforations or pockets 26, as

best shown in Figs. 1 and 8. A small bolt 29, passed through the false bottom 27 and through the bottom of the hopper, serves as a journal for the feed-disk 25. At one point under the false bottom 27 the bottom of the hopper 23 is formed with a discharge-orifice 30, which opens into the upper end of a vertically-disposed seed-delivery leg or spout. At its upper end this leg 31 has a tie-bar extension 32, which is bolted or otherwise rigidly secured both .to the supplemental frame 18 and to the overlying seed-hopper 23. At its lower end said leg 31 is formed with a furrowopening shoe 33, which is located directly in front of the corresponding wheel 1, so that the latter serves to press or pack the furrow after the seeds have been deposited.

Working through the leg 31 and normally closing the same is a spring pressed slide-valve 34, having a discharge-passage 35 and a projecting tappet 46 engaging lug 36.

Extending transversely of the machine, just below the supplemental frame 18 and, as shown, journaled in bearings 37 on the legs 31,i sacounter-shaft 38, provided with asprocket-wheel 39, over which and the sprocket 11 on the axle 2 runs a sprocket-chain 40. Below the hoppers 23 the counter-shaft 38 is provided with tappet-hubs 41, (see Fig. 5,) each, as shown, having four arms or tappets, which tappets engage with peripheral teeth 42 of the feeddisks 25, the bottoms of said hoppers being cut away to permit such engagements. (See Figs. 1 and 5.) Journaled in bearings 37a on the legs 31 are stub-shafts 43, having gears 44, that mesh with gears 45 on the counter-shaft 38. Each stub-shaft 43 carries a single tappet 46, which is adapted to engage the lug 36 of the corresponding valve 34. As shown, the gears 44 and 45 are of the same diameter, so that the counter-shaft and stub-shafts make the same number of rotations.

At one end-to wit, as shown, (see Fig. 4,)

at its left-hand endthe counter-shaft 38 carries a long radially-projecting marking-arm 47, which comes into contact with the ground once on each rotation ofthe counter-shaft and serves to mark the location or relative locations of the hills when the machine is adjusted to plant the corn or other grain in hills. ATo the right-hand end of the supplemental frame 18 is pivoted a braced arm 48, which at its free end carries a loose row marking wheel 49, which serves to mark the line to be traversed by the right-hand shoe 33 on the next succeeding trip of the machine. When this row-marking device is not in use, it may be turned pivotally upward and folded over the top of the machine, where it will be entirely out of the way.

The operation of the machine is substantially as follows: When it is desired to plant corn in drills or close together, as when planting fodder-corn,the dropping-valves 34 should efr/9,552

either be removed or locked with their perforations 35 in line with the passage through the respective legs 31. This being done, for each rotation of the counter-shaft 38 each feeddisk 25 will be given four successive steps of movement, and eachV will ldeposit at short distances apart four kernels of corn in the respective furrow. When it is desired to plant corn in hills, the parts are adjusted as shown in the drawings, and under such adjustment for each rotation of the counter-shaft 38 four kernels of corn will be dropped into each seeddelivery leg 31 and onto the corresponding dropping-valves 34, and these four collected kernels will be simultaneously dropped into the furrow by the said dropping-valves. The said dropping-valves 34, as is evident, are given their operative movements by the engagement of the respective tappets 46 with the lugs 36 of said valves.

The so-called feed-disks 25 may very properly be treated as primary feeding devices, and the so-called dropping-valves 34 as secondary feeding devices. The former operate to pick up the kernels and deliver them to the respective legs or spouts 31, and the latter serve to deposit an accumulation of the kernels into the furrow to form a hill or hills.

The machine described, while extremely simple and of small cost, is efficient for the purposes had in view. It will of course be understood that the machine described is capable of modification within the scope of my invention as herein set forth and claimed.

What I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is as follows:

1. In a machine of the character described, the combination with hoppers 23, having false bottoms 27 cut away at 28, the seed-delivery legs 31 depending from said lioppers and terminating in shoes 33, the feed-disks 25 journaled in the bottoms of said hoppers, below said bottoms 27, and having the perforations 26 affording seed-pockets, the spring-pressed drop-valves 34 working through said legs 31 and provided with perforations 35 and lugs 36, the counter-shaft 38 having tappet-hubs 41 operating on said feed -disks to impart operating movements thereto, the stub-shafts 43 gear-driven from said shaft 38, and having tappets 36 engageable with the lugs 36, to operate said valves 34, and means for driving said shaft 38 from one of the machine-wheels, involving a clutch device for throwing the same into, and out of action, at will, substantially as described.

2. In a machine of the character described, the combination with a hopper and a seeddelivery leg depending therefrom, of a feed device controlling the discharge of the seeds from the hopper into the furrow, and a countershaft driven from one of the machine-wheels having connections for operating said feed device and provided at one end with a rigidly- IOO IIS

secured radially-projecting hill-marking arm, substantially as described.

3. 1n a machine of the character described, the combination With a primary frame 3, secured to the pole, of asupplemental frame 18 having guide-plates 19 embracing the sides of said frame 3, a screw-rod applied to the said tWo frames for adjusting Said supplemental frame vertically, and furrow-opening devices,

seed-hoppers, and feeding devices carried by IO said supplemental frame, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I afix my signature in presence of two Witnesses.

EPHRAIM E. LEVIG. Witnesses:

Trios. W. ALLIsoN, H. O. CORBUL. 

